Concealed pocket

ABSTRACT

A pocket structure intended to be secured in a garment is constructed in such a way that a thief, slipping his hand in the pocket, will find the pocket apparently empty, whereas, a panel intermediate the back panel which is secured to the garment and the front panel which is spaced from the garment divides the pocket structure into an apparent pocket and a concealed pocket which is closed by means of a flap secured to the front panel and normally folded down over the intermediate panel so as to guide the hand of the thief into the apparent pocket which would be empty insofar as valuables are concerned.

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[ CONCEALED POCKET [76] Inventor: Thomas P. Segelin, 3716 Latimore Dr., Shaker Heights, Ohio 44122 [22] Filed: Sept. 21, 1972 [21] Appl. No.: 291,086

[52] US. Cl. 2/253 [51] Int. Cl .L A4111 27/20 [58] Field of Search 2/253, 254, 252, 2/247 [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 231,251 8/1880 Adler 2/253 1,013,757 1/1912 Finsten 2/254 3,688,315 9/1972 Oliver 2/252 FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS Nov. 20, 1973 Primary ExaminerAlred R. Guest Attorney-George S. Baldwin et a1.

A pocket structure intended to be secured in a garment is constructed in such a way that a thief, slipping his hand in the pocket, will find the pocket apparently empty, whereas, a panel intermediate the back panel which is secured to the garment and the front panel which is spaced from the garment divides the pocket structure into an apparent pocket and a concealed pocket which is closed by means of a flap secured to the front panel and normally folded down over the intermediate panel so as to guide the hand of the thief into the apparent pocket which would be empty insofar as valuables are concerned.

ABSTRACT 4,167 10/1891 Switzerland 2 254 1 m" 5 Drawing ERE CONCEALED POCKET An object of the present invention is to provide a concealed pocket of simple structure wherein an integral flap portion attached to the panel farthest away from the wearers garment structure normally closes the upper open end of the concealed pocket in such a manner as to lie smoothly in its concealed position so as to mislead a thief.

Other objects and advantages of this invention will be apparent from the drawings and the description thereof and the essential features of the invention will be set forth in the appended claims.

In the drawings,

FIG. 1 is an elevational view of the pocket structure of this invention taken from the side of the pocket structure farthest from the garment to which the pocket is attached;

FIG. 2 is a central sectional view of the same taken along the line 2-2 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 2A is a sectional view like FIG. 2 but with the cloth layers separated to show the reinforcing of FIGS. 3 and 4, and with the cloth layers cross-hatched for clarity.

FIG. 3 is an elevational view of the flap portion which is integral with the front panel of the pocket structure and in which the dot-dash lines indicate the original blank which is folded over as shown to provide the flap;

while FIG. 4 is a fragmental elevational view taken along the line 4--4 of FIG. 2 illustrating the reinforcement along the upper edge of the intermediate panel of the pocket structure.

The prior art has attempted to provide concealed pockets to foil a thief but the present invention offers a more simplified structure than that known heretofore and one which is very easily cut out and stitched together in a garment factory.

The improved pocket structure comprises a back panel 10, a front panel 11, and an intermediate panel 12. All of these panels are of cloth material and are rectangular and of the same width and all stitched together near the parallel sides by the stitching 13 near the side edges and other stitching 14 near the bottom edges. The back panel is longer than the other two panels and has an upstanding portion 10a by which it may be secured to a suitable garment. The panels 11 and 12 are somewhat shorter than the back panel. The front panel 11 has an integral portion 11a forming a flap, generally triangular in shape as seen in FIG. 3 and in use folded over the top of the upper edge 12a of the intermediate panel as clearly seen in FIG. 2.

One of the features of this invention is best described in connection with FIG. 3. The front panel 11 is formed as a rectangular blank having a rectangular extension 21 at its upper end for the distance A above the fold 15 where the flap 11a joins the front panel 11. The corners B and C of the blank are folded along 45 degree angles converging toward the center of the flap structure so as to meet in a central straight line 16. Between these folded over corners B and C and the front panel material 11 an extra layer 17 of reinforcing cloth is placed. This reinforcement is triangular and only slightly less in dimension than the flap 11a. Plural stitching 18 and 19 is then evenly applied to the multiple layers of cloth as shown in FIG. 3 so as to firmly secure together the corners B and C as folded over and the reinforcing layer 17 and the front panel triangular extension portion The stitching 18 runs parallel to the base of the triangular flap near the upper edge thereof at 15 while the stitching at 19 is preferably generally parallel to the sides of the triangular flap and spaced evenly over the general area of the flap. Preferably also fine stitches 20 hold the corners B and C firmly in their folded position along the line 16 throughout its length.

The intermediate panel 12 parallel to its upper edge 12a has a fold of the cloth bent over as indicated at 12a in FIG. 4 and this is firmly secured by a line of stitching 21 parallel and close to the edge 12a.

The purpose of the reinforcing and stitching at and 21 is to hold the upper edge of the intermediate panel from flopping around which would disclose the intermediate panel to a thief. The purpose of the reinforcing of the corners B and C and the reinforcing layer 17 and the multiple stitching at 18 and 19, as well as at 20, is to cause the flap 11a to lie flat inside of the pocket as shown in FIG. 2 so that the hand of the thief when entering the open upper edge of the pocket be tween the panel 10 and the intermediate panel 12 as overhung by the flap 11a will fool the thief into thinking that his hand has entered a normal sort of pocket. Thus, if folding money is concealed between the front panel 11 and the intermediate panel 12, in the position of FIG. 2, then the thief will overlook such money.

The invention thus disclosed requires a few pieces of generally rectangular cloth stitched together in a very simple manner but effective to foil a thief.

What is claimed is:

l. A concealed pocket consisting of a back panel, a front panel and an intermediate panel, all of said panels being of cloth and rectangular and of the same width generally horizontal, the bottom edges of said panels being in registration, means securing said bottom edges of said panels together, said back panel being the longest vertically and there providing means for attachment to a garment, said front panel being shorter than said back panel, said intermediate panel being of a length slightly less than that of the front panel, a flap portion integral with the upper part of said front panel and folded over the upper edge of said intermediate panel to be parallel between said back panel and said intermediate panel, stitching securing the vertical side edges of said panels together up to the level of the top of said intermediate panel, and means reinforcing said flap portion and the upper edge of said intermediate panel to at least the stiffness of two thicknesses of said panel cloth, said reinforcing means including said flap portion when blanked out forming a rectangular extension at the upper end of said front panel, the upper corners of said rectangular extension being then folded along forty-five degree angles to meet at the center of the blank in a straight line, said reinforcing means including an extra layer of cloth placed between said corners and said front panel, and multiple stitching firmly securing together said comers and reinforcing layer and said front panel portion forming said flap. 

